How to dispute a medical bill for your mom or dad
By the Folkswise team · Updated · 6 min read · How we write these guides
Medical bills for older adults are wrong more often than most people expect, especially when a parent has more than one kind of insurance. Here's how to check a bill and get it fixed, without spending your whole week on hold.
1. Get permission to talk about the account
Billing offices may only discuss an account with the patient or someone they've authorized. The easiest way is to have your parent on the line to give verbal permission. For ongoing help, ask the provider for their HIPAA authorization form, or use a power of attorney if your parent has one.
2. Ask for an itemized bill
A summary statement just shows a total. Ask for an itemized bill listing every service, date and charge. You're entitled to see what you're being asked to pay for.
3. Compare it with Medicare's notice or the plan's EOB
- Find the same date of service on the Medicare Summary Notice (or Medicare Advantage EOB).
- Is the bill asking for more than the “maximum you may be billed”?
- Is any service listed twice, or for a date your parent wasn't there?
- Was secondary insurance (Medigap, Medicaid, a retiree plan) billed?
- Does your parent have Medicaid or QMB? Then they usually can't be billed for Medicare cost-sharing at all (see our QMB guide).
4. Call the billing office
- Have ready: the bill, the matching Medicare notice, your parent's Medicare and other insurance cards.
- Explain exactly what's wrong and what the notice says, then ask them to correct it.
- Ask them to put the account on hold so it isn't sent to collections while it's reviewed.
- Write down the date, the person's name, a reference number and what they agreed to do.
5. Follow up in writing
If the fix doesn't happen, send a short letter asking for a corrected, itemized bill. Include the account number, dates of service, what's wrong and copies (never originals) of the Medicare notice. Keep a copy. If a bill has already gone to collections, you can dispute the debt in writing with the collector, and you can submit a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
For free, unbiased help with Medicare billing questions, your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) has trained counselors: shiphelp.org.